Nice Mumbai layover
 

[With the fighting stretching into a third day, commandos killed the last two gunmen inside the luxury Oberoi hotel, where 24 bodies had been found, authorities said. Dozens of people — including a man clutching a baby and about 20 airline crew members — were evacuated from the Oberoi earlier Friday.]

This wins the prize as the worst 2 day layover on record! Anybody know what airline these 20 crewmembers are from?

Saw something that mentioned LH and AF crews.

Actually, that Mumbai layover is a close second to the Peoria layover, or for that matter, the Flint layover.

JJ, you stole my thunder:)
fbh

Los Angeles 1992
YouTube - 29 April 1992 Los Angeles riot~Welcome to American Democracy

Well so much for staying at the Taj during layovers ,lots of fire and smoke now.

I'm going to submit Monroe, LA to this mix ( prayers go out to all who are involved in BOM issue )

Would these folks qualify for hazardous duty pay? Isn't that an additional 3:30 CH? Unless you're catered on the outbound, then you don't get anything.

I once had a 72 hour San Juan layover after a hurricane had passed through and there was no electricity and the the hotel elevators were on impulse power, also the beer was warm until we got the emergency ice ration. Happily the 14 British flight attendants around the pool were unable to locate their bikini tops for the entire time, which took the edge off this terrible ordeal! Does this top 2 days hunkered down while grenades and AK-47s rake your room?

Certainly does, especially if they looked like thishttp://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture...ay/British.png

Man you are one COLD dude!!

Yes, of course they would. Well, actually, the guys laying over in Flint would, but I don't think the Peoria guys would be entitled to haz pay.:D

We must have some senior elites posting here. No mention of Grand Forks? Peoria & Flint are virtual garden spots in comparison. Haz pay for frostbite.

Try living there for 5 years :eek:

The university (used) to be renowned for producing the most "Miss Louisiana" 's in the state. The beer was cheap and the bayou cool to swim. Whats' not to like?? ;)

SHHHHHH !!

You will blow the cover. Monroe was a WELL known "layover" for Navy X-countries. There were some VERY friendly 'mature' women as well. Some guys must have personality disorders and couldn't make out in a brothel, I guess. OR, perhaps not enough 'malls' there?

I was in that same hotel in Mumbai when India and Pakistan were about to go at it with full blown Nukes. I was working for Atlas at the time and as I was listening to the soothing voice of my chief pilot over the vars message tellg us that everything was going to be all right (as he was sipping some Martinis in Purchase NY) it hit me right their.......this job sucks and I gotta get out.

"It's the life you have chosen"

I spent a year in Peoria on one weekend layover.

Maybe Peoria ain't so bad.

Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 6:17 PM
Subject: MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACK


[FONT='times new roman','new york',times,serif] I just got back from Amsterdam and brought several NWA crew members with me who were at the Oberi Hotel hotel when the terrorists attacked. Here is an account from one of our NWA Captains:

Scott D


Dateline Mumbai;



I was lucky. Just two hours separated me from a life altering event.



Yes I was there. My flight was on approach to BOM when the first terrorist attacks took place. Our ETA to the Oberi/Trident hotel was about 90mins later. The outbound crew was scheduled to be in the lobby about 20mins after the first attack at the hotel (10:30pm).



My crew spent 6hrs on the aircraft before being relocated to one of the airport hotels. In retrospect, NWA should have gotten us there immediately. We were the crew who would fly out of BOM. Being off duty on the aircraft is not resting, and I correctly guestimated how most of the decision process was going to play out over the next 12hrs. We were eating into what would be a 48hr period with (in my case) just 4hrs of sleep. I thought my day couldn?t get much worse.



At this moment, I?m on a flight from BOM-AMS. My crewmembers are all safe, and we have nine of eleven of the crew who were at the Oberi/Trident. Sadly, a pilot and FA are still at the Oberi, holed up in their rooms. NWA hired two different civilian extraction teams to get them out of the hotel safely ... you know, expats - challenge/response passwords & all that James Bond stuff ... That may have worked initially; but the hotel was locked down by the local military (to the exclusion of those rescue teams) and that simply provided the terrorists time to reorganize, take hostages, and prepare for a long standoff.



Flashback to Oberi hotel. Some stories from that unfortunate crew follow: (Apparently, a well built hotel muffles sound more than you might think ..... )



F/A exits the elevator in the lobby of the Trident. The terrorists (probably) just gunned their way through the lobby, into a connecting hallway to the Oberi (their primary target). Bodies and pools of blood everywhere. The two girls at the front desk, Bellman, and Doorman all killed in the initial attack. All other people in the lobby were either shot/killed or helped the injured out of the hotel. The FA returned to his room then followed a housecleaner out through a (sort of) hidden stairway into the relative safety of the street. I later found out the hotel manager, who lives in the hotel with his wife and children, were all killed in the initial attack. That may point to an ´insider¡ helping the terrorists.



Another F/A goes to the elevator to head down to the lobby. Doors open and the interior of the car was splattered in blood. She returned to her room and got a few other F/A?s and left that floor via the emergency exit. Once out on the exposed outer stairway, the fire door locked behind them. If they ran into trouble down below, without another exit strategy, they?d be truly screwed. Near the bottom, they heard a lot of commotion beyond a set of double doors. They were potentially stuck in a real bad situation. They backed up a bit, laid down and played possum (wouldn?t have worked - no blood). A few minutes later a police team came up to their position and escorted them to the relative safety of a nearby parking garage.



A male Chinese F/A was trying to escape the hotel following a hotel employee through a different pitch black service stairway. He opened a door to a short hallway leading into the lobby. Shell casings and damage littered the floor. He started into the lobby and came face to face with one of the armed terrorists. Fortunately, he was not in uniform, and wearing a European style black leather jacket.. He didn?t fit the victim ´profile.¡ He turned around, back through the hallway ... got out alive.



That crew eventually spent about 9hrs on an ascending ramp at a concrete parking structure about two blocks from the hotel. The F/O on the scene separated that crew from perhaps 300 other confused civilians. Automatic weapon fire and hand grenade explosions permeated the restless night. They were able to keep in touch with NWA security via an international cell phone. They got on a charter bus about 9am, and were transported to the hotel where my crew was located.



I?m now in AMS. I?ll be on a flight to civilization in another 3hrs. The two crewmembers stuck in the BOM hotel are still OK, but ... still waiting to be rescued ... along with Lufthansa and Air France crews.



The above was a quick summary of what happened last night. I could get into a Lot more detail. But right now, there?s a shower with my name in it.

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Five plus days after the event in BOM and not one peep from the Union regarding new protocols, operating procedures and discussions with the company. Last time I checked we had a security committee and it had a warm body assigned to it. Our hotel committee has fine features for"road warriors" like, "close that drape gap" and "how to humidify your room". Gee thanks I feel better now. Okay some of it is SSI, but can't these people put out ANY info as to what their input is or IF they even have any. What gives with these folks? Once again demonstrating your dues hard at work; I am promptly going to toss that latest issue of ALPA magazine displaying crowds of mustachioed,indefatigable, self congratulating aviators into the fireplace and use it as primer, in which it will have served a noble cause.

Wow what a story...I am so thankful that the flight crews made it out alive. There are over 195 deaths there so far, total carnage. It easily could have been any of us caught in that situation. Just so glad that none of the flight crews were killed or injured, but very sorry about all the other losses.
I actually had a charter trip and was supposed to be there, but it cancelled weeks ago and we were in Dubai instead. What a crazy dangerous world.

Save it, someday you might own a parrot! :D

Or run out of toilet paper.

..............

But, ah, Al Newman, I saw what you wrote before you deleted it!! So, I am willing to do what you asked in exchange for you, me, Busboy, Redeye and jetjok going to one of these nude German spas. The only, uh, downside is my husband will be following along.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/ca...a-resorts.html

You and me babe, otherwise its a dealbreaker:D

Seems to me its being handled on a need to know basis - like, if you're operating into BOM! That's good enough for me! Do we really need our security protocols outlined in ALPA mag, an email, etc....? :rolleyes:

I operated in there as one of the first crews to do so. Plan seemed smart and well thought out. No issues and no problems. As with any new "situation" they are all ears to suggestions and you will know the plan before you get there, if you are the operating crew. It was different to say the least.